Behind the Scenes at Rio 2016 with Ashley Kelly

After the whirlwind of excitement of leading Team BVI as the British Virgin Islands’ Flag Bearer into the Maracana Stadium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Ashley Kelly switched into full training mode for the upcoming Women’s 200m heats which kick off at 8.35am on Monday, August 15.

Waking up bright and early on day 6 of the Olympics, Ashley grabs a bowl of cereal and makes her way to the Athletes’ Transport hub with Head Athletics Coach Winston Potter and personal coach, Pete Charles. Plugging in to some tunes, Ashley takes the opportunity to focus on the morning ahead during the 20-minute bus ride.

The sun is out and it’s a moderately cool and temperate day in Rio. The Navy Base Club, one of the three athletic training grounds for Rio 2016, is active with athletes from all over the world clustered in small groups on the track field. The trio that make up Ashley’s group find a spot under the tent and discuss the set of exercises that Ashley will do that morning.

“I don’t normally get a say in what my training schedule looks like,” says Ashley. “I can tell Coach if my body is particularly
hurting but otherwise, it’s his decision on what I will be doing that day.”

Ashley Kelly training at Rio 2016. Photo: BVIOC

Ashley begins her session with stretches and limb warm ups. “I’m not doing any starts today,” she explains. “It’s a light training day so I’ll do a couple of short sprints and finish with one hard 200m sprint.”

The following day being a rest day means that Ashley will go back and have a session with the Team BVI physiotherapist, Matt McGrath. “I don’t tend to have treatment if I’m training the next day because Matt’s work goes deep into my muscle and it takes a while for the soreness to dissipate.”

Matt agrees, explaining that the physical response to the targeted treatment varies from individual to individual.

Ashley had incorporated some light gym work in her training regime at the start of the week just to warm up her muscles. “At this point, it’s not about building or strengthening muscles and Tuesday was my last day at the gym. The hard work has been done and now it’s about keeping in optimal condition for competition.”

There is a lot of support for each other in the three apartments shared by the Team BVI delegation of athletes, coaches, physiotherapist and Chef de Mission at Olympic Village. Everyone is on a different schedule but there is constant communication between them through social media chats to make sure that everyone is kept up to date with information, plans (and jokes).

There are dining options in the Village but as a person who likes her fresh fruits, Ashley keeps a stock to hand along with healthy snacks that she tucks into as she feels like.

Ashley Kelly in training at at Rio 2016. Photo: BVIOC

“I’ve met up with some of my peers from Illinois and other track meets and I’ve had the opportunity to watch some fencing and basketball,” says Ashley of her extra curricular time at her first Olympic Games. “Those are the two sports I was particularly keen to see at this level and that’s enough for now. My end game is why I’m here and that’s what I’m focused on.”